Burhaniye Bilsem is a Science and Art Centre located in a small town in Balıkesir Province, Turkey. The centre hosts a team called “Burhaniye Bilsem Water Explorer Group for Raising Water Awareness” consisting of 1040 members. Embracing the values of the Water Explorer programme, the student group came up with the idea to make bags out of their old clothes, and brought their mothers in to help. The students then decided that they wanted to save water and energy by donating their bags to people in need. After much deliberation by the students and their mothers, they chose to donate the bags to a rural school in Diyarbakir, Turkey. By doing this they helped others, raised water awareness and saved both water and energy. All of which contribute to Sustainable Development Goals 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure) and 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production)!

Meanwhile, elsewhere in Turkey, the Water Explorer team at Ulus Jewish Primary School decided to keep all their leftover pieces of construction paper from their visual arts class for a month. Then, they used the recycled construction papers to make Christmas cards and wrote notes on those cards to give to their friends. They had so much fun giving out the cards and at the same time were so proud that they saved the secret water hidden in the construction papers. Another great way to tackle Goals 9 and 12!